THE BIBLICAL DOCTRINE OF SEPARATION

By J. Arturo Poletti

"Philadelphia" Testimony Congress. August 15 to 17, 1970, Argentina.

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CONSIDERING THAT:

1.      In the light of the Holy Scriptures, God, being Holy, is consequent with His own Nature (1 Peter 1: 16; 1 John 1: 5) and establishes the doctrine of separation (compare Gen. 1:4).

2.      The Divine teaching for the people of Israel confirmed the doctrine of separation from all sin (idolatry, etc. Deut. 6:14) as also separation for His holy service (Lev. 19:2; 20:7, 8; Ex. 19:3‑8).

3.      The Lord Jesus Christ personally fulfilled in His own sinless life, the doctrine of separation to the point of expressing at the end of His ministry: "The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me" (John 14:30 compare Heb. 7:24). And He ratified this doctrine on the cross of Calvary, where, as the Lamb of God, He became the Great Separated One on account of our sins (Isaiah 53:3; John 1:29; Matt. 27:46; 2 Cor. 5:21).

4.      The Christian Church, as fruit of the sacrifice of the cross, implicitly bears in its name ("Church," from the Greek "Eklesia" which means literally "to call out"), the essence of its calling to separation from the world and consecration to God (Isaiah 53:10; 1 Peter 2:9, 10).

5.      The teaching of the Holy Spirit in the Word of God establishes the separation of born‑again believers:

(a)               From sin (2 Cor. 7: 1; Eph. 5: 1 ‑11; 1 Thess. 5:22)

(b)               From unbelievers (2 Cor. 6:14‑18) and from philosophies and traditions of men (Col. 2:8; 1 Tim. 4:7; 6:20, 21)

WE THEREFORE DECLARE:

That the Biblical Doctrine of Separation obliges us to:

1.      Separate from all modernist‑ecumenical apostasy and from Churches, Denominations and Ecclesiastical Organizations (Associations, Councils, etc.), which support it (Matt. 7:15; Rom. 16:17‑19; 2 Peter 3: 17, 18; 2 John 9‑11).

2.      Separate from evil and separated to God, to live in holiness and faithful service to the Lord (Titus 2:11‑14; 1 Peter 4:1, 2; Heb. 12:12‑14; 13:20, 21).